


The Kiss

by blunderingcloudwalk



Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M, idk what tags I should use oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:54:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28005744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blunderingcloudwalk/pseuds/blunderingcloudwalk
Summary: After 20-year-old Sougo shares a kiss with 16-year-old Kagura, he begins to question how he feels about her.
Relationships: Kagura/Okita Sougo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic, so it might not be perfect but it was fun to write and I like how it turned out. Hope you enjoy!

Sougo’s lips still tingled from the kiss. Did she kiss him or did he kiss her, or was it somewhere in between? He couldn’t remember, which was frustrating. It was such a dreadfully important detail; why couldn’t he remember?

It was a lazy springtime afternoon, aglow with light sunshine. It was a day like any other, at first. He was on patrol (read: slacking off and taking a nap under the trees) when that stupid China woke him up with an insult about something-or-other, and they launched into a good fight. Recently, he couldn’t help but notice how mature she had become. He hated himself for noticing, but every time he saw her it meant that he had to get an eyeful of her long red hair, her feminine facial features, the delicate curve of her waist, her chest-

_ Dammit, Sougo. Stop. Don’t think about it. She’s sixteen, what are you, a pedo? _

~~_ Lolicon janai, feminist desu. _ ~~

Anyway. Back to what happened. He found himself holding back as they fought, afraid to touch her too much, afraid of what he might feel. Kagura, on the other hand, had no such concerns and proceeded to beat him up with her usual gusto. For some reason, the fact that she didn’t seem to notice Sougo’s apprehension led him to forget it as well, and as they hit each other and ran and leapt and dodged and yelled, it really did feel like old times. She ended up on top of him, her long legs on either side of his body. Sougo, still caught up in the heat of the fight, decided to poke a little fun at her. “Oi China, why’re you straddling me like that? Are you in heat or something?”

Sure, it sounded like flirting, but it was the kind of thing he said all the time. Shortly after they first met, Okita noticed that these type of teasing comments were one of the easiest ways to get under China’s skin.

_ “Why do you have egg on your crotch? Is is that time of the month?” _

_ “Hey, nice dress. You should take it off.” _

It’s not like he _meant_ these things; he just said them to annoy her. Ok, maybe a tiny part of him might have felt that way, but it didn’t matter. It’s not like she was going to flirt back or anything.

But instead of screaming at him, Kagura froze. She lowered the fist she was going to strike him with.

_ Maybe I shouldn’t have said it. _

Sougo could practically see the gears turning in her stupid head; she was so easy to read. Maybe it was the fact that it was springtime, and maybe that “love is in the air” crap had some semblance of truth to it. Or maybe China was just being a horny teenager for once. But for whatever reason, the sadist’s words made her become painfully aware of the feeling of his body against hers. He could almost hear an idiotic little voice in her nearly empty head saying, _“What if I flirted back for once?”_

The Yato leaned in, put her face just a little too close to his. She didn’t even know what to say; she just sat there, looking curious and desperate and excited and afraid. Okita couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. He knew what he wanted to do, but he didn’t know if he should. _She’s a kid. Sixteen. You’re twenty. It’s shady; it’s not worth it, you have a reputation to uphold._ He noticed a loose strand of red hair that had escaped from her hair ornament, and absentmindedly tucked it behind her ear. Who closed their eyes first? Who leaned in first? He couldn’t remember.

The kiss was nothing to get too excited about. Their mouths were closed, it didn’t last long. It was the kind of kiss that a middle-schooler would lose their mind over.

So why was he, a grown-ass man, losing his mind over it?

China ran off once their lips had separated. Sougo watched her go, his face still hot. He decided to stay where he was. It was a good place to be alone, to think. The tall grasses hid him; the trees were his company. The thing is, he needed to know who initiated the kiss. If it was the sukonbu glutton who did it, then fine. Things would be weird between them, but they could talk it out, it wouldn’t be too bad. But if he was the one who started it, he was dead. What if he was reading too deep into things and China didn’t want to be kissed and that would mean that he took advantage of an innocent young girl and he couldn’t be a respectable member of the Shinsengumi and the boss would kill him and the glasses would kill him and the female gorilla would kill him and the baldy would kill him and-

_Sougo, calm down. You’re overreacting._ He knew he was overreacting, but part of him couldn’t help it. He had just shared a kiss with that idiot, that shrimp, that glutton, that killing machine, that _girl._ And he liked it and he wanted to do it again and again- he knew he was being stupid, that he would never say any of this out loud, but...

_ I think I love her. _

Maybe he hated her, maybe he loved to hate her, maybe he hated to love her, maybe he loved her. It was so confusing, but after that exchange under the leaves, hidden from sunlight, he was almost certain. He loved her. Sougo felt a bit of surprise at the emotion. He always thought that he would go through his life without feeling this way. Love was messy and difficult and not worth his time. China was just an annoying kid...how did she end up being so important to him?

Ever since they met, it felt like she was always underfoot. Whenever the Shinsengumi and Odd Jobs interacted, the two of them were grouped together, drawn together. He had never met anyone before who was his perfect equal in a fight, and then she showed up and it was like their bodies were made for each other- _For each other to fight of course and definitely not for anything else I swear I wasn’t thinking of it in that way-_ Sougo became a hopeless tsundere. She was so incredibly strong and quick and he never knew if it was going to be a win or a loss or a draw and he loved every second of every exchange.

He loved how she didn’t try to act like a normal heroine. He loved how she swore and ate too much and picked her nose and insulted people and was different and was _real._ But in contrast, he loved how she had her moments of femininity, her moments where despite her weird personality, she really was just a cute girl.

He loved how well she knew him, how she cheered him up when he was down. She was the one who reassured him when he was troubled by the murders he had to commit for his job. She was the one reminded him of who he was when the Shinsengumi was temporarily disbanded. She was the one who put a smile on his face when they had to say goodbye that time. She was the one.

Why did they always end up in situations together? The beetle fighting, the soul-swap thing, the time he caught her when she fell off a cliff... he could go on. Did that gorilla of an author ship them? Did he write them together to annoy them? Or did he just do it for the fans who idiotically, desperately, wanted them to get together? But at the end of the day, no matter what scenario is written, it’s up to the characters to choose how they feel. And Sougo knew how he felt.


	2. Chapter 2

He knew he needed to talk to her about it, but he didn’t want to approach her. He decided to go about business as usual, and he would wait until their paths crossed naturally.

It was a week later when Sougo spotted China lounging on a park bench, umbrella in one hand, a box of sukonbu in the other. “Hey, idiot,” he muttered, sitting next to her, aware of the tension between them. “Whaddaya want?” she responded around a mouthful of seaweed. The sadist breathed in, looked at her, breathed again. “Can we talk about what happened the other day?” Kagura’s face turned red. “What’s there to talk about? We kissed, so what? People kiss all the time, it’s no big deal. It’s just a kiss.” _How many times was she going to say the word “kiss”? Never mind, just get it over with._ “You...kissed me, right? Or did I kiss you?” _There. I said it._ “Why do you even care?” She sounded flustered, her words falling out of her mouth just a little too quickly. “I mean I guess I leaned in first but it was... mutual.” “Ok,” Sougo breathed, relieved. “Why do you want to know?” Kagura retorted. “Wanna write it in your diary or something?” _Or something,_ he thought to himself. _I should just tell her the truth. I don’t want to make a mess of things between us._

“China, aren’t you a little young for...” _Shit, this was a lot more awkward than I thought it would be._ “Excuse me?” She snapped. “I have friends my age who are doing this and that and the other thing and you think that I’m not mature enough for a stupid kiss?! If this is your way of telling me you don’t find me attractive, just tell it to me straight. I don’t need sugarcoating.”

_Great, now she got the wrong idea._ “No. That’s not what I mean, brat. I wouldn’t have kissed you in the first place if I wasn’t into you. I’m just telling you that things are weird because I’m a bit older than you and I don’t want you to get hurt or to feel pressured into doing anything and people might look at us weird and maybe they have every right to and maybe you’re young and stupid and you don’t know what you want so you just turned to the first guy you thought of and that guy happens to be a twenty-year-old scumbag of a man and if this is something you really, really want, you have to think about it and be sure about it because I don’t want anything bad to happen to you and I don’t even know if it’s right for us to do this-“ He couldn’t believe how many of his pent-up insecurities spilled out, as if he had ever spoken to her like this before.

His thoughts were jumbled, but she hung on to every word. “...I get it,” she finally said. “Maybe I haven’t thought about it enough, but I don’t think that it’s a problem. I’m not stupid, I wouldn’t go off with some random older man, but you’re not some random man, you’re... weak and immature, so I see you as an equal, uh-huh!” She continued in a softer voice. “And I _know_ you. I trust you... And if you tried anything on me, I’d beat you up!”

They began to insult each other a bit, mostly to make up for the weird, out-of-character exchange they just had, and went their separate ways. _She’s sixteen. Do I remember what it was like to be sixteen?_

Okita had a girlfriend at that age. It lasted for a few months but never turned into anything serious. There was a girl, same age as him, who he would sometimes run into on patrol. She eventually started going out of her way to see him, and they would make small talk as they walked together. One day, she gave him a confession letter because that was the type of girl she was. Sougo didn’t see much in her, but she was a nice girl and he thought she was pretty and he was a teenager and he wanted things so he said yes.

After they started dating, they would often go on small outings, usually just to get food, in addition to the time they spent walking and talking. And eventually, she invited him to her house, when no one was home and they did each other, often. She was an M and he was an S and they fit together and it felt good. _I did it when I was China’s age. So why does it feel so weird to think about... is four years really that much? He didn’t know._

Sougo’s previous relationship reached a point where the girl wanted more. She wanted him to hang out with her friends. She hated to hear him talk about work, but she wanted to know why he was so distant. She wanted to receive and provide emotional support and he didn’t know how to do that. He didn’t know what he, a guy who killed people for a living, was doing with a carefree high school girl. He wasn’t interested in her friends, her family. He didn’t know how to advance the relationship, and realized that he didn’t want to. He broke it off. She hated him. They moved on.

After that, he decided to stay away from romance. He was cold towards any girl who showed interest in him. He knew there would never be a woman who could understand what he’d been through, what goes through his head each day. What was the point, anyway? He’d be eighteen soon, so he could just go to Yoshiwara if he ever got in the mood. It didn’t make sense to get a girlfriend. He could die on the job any day, and he didn’t want to break some stupid girl’s heart. Better to never care for someone to begin with, then to lead them on and reject them, like Hijibaka did.

But now he had to go and care for someone, really care for her. He had hated her. Just how thin was the line between love and hate?


	3. Chapter 3

As the weeks went by, they began to acknowledge what happened between them less and less. Their name-calling became more colorful, their brawls ended up destroying more public property.But sometimes, occasionally, they were able to just talk. Like normal people. He was the one who told her to think, who told her to wait, so why did he feel so impatient?

Spring turned to summer turned to fall. The colder season was just beginning, and Okita crossed paths with the Odd Jobs as they walked down the streets of the Kabuki District one morning. “Hey Danna, Glasses.” He looked at the girl. “Shitface. I hope you slip on a pile of leaves and die.” She sneered. “Right back at ya, you piece of poop.” Sougo involuntarily chuckled at her choice of words. “You’re such a child.” “Says the one who just laughed at the word ‘poop.’” He paused. _She kind of had a point._ The trio continued on their way, and Sougo on his.

He saw her again, that evening. He was getting ready to go home when she jumped him out of nowhere. “What’re you doing?” He was exhausted and not ready for a fight. She sniffed with an air of superiority. “I’m the queen of the Kabuki District, and I do as I please.” She pointed her umbrella gun at his head. “I want a hot drink from a vending machine. Let’s go!” The Shinsengumi officer was too lazy to protest, and there was a vending machine near the station anyway, so they went and bought their beverages, Sougo pinning the Yato in a headlock and making her promise to pay him back for the can of cider she was about to crack open.

He headed off towards the headquarters, to the building where he lived on-site. He heard footsteps behind him. “Fuck off.” She walked up beside him. “No. It’s cold and dark and I want to see where you live.” What could he do? He unlocked the door, they walked down the hall, entered his room. Closed the door. _She wasn’t planning on spending the night, was she?_ They sipped the last of their drinks and talked about life, his room, how much they hated each other. It was a simple living space. A desk with drawers, a katana mounted on the wall, a closet containing clothes and things. A futon. He waited for her to say she was going to leave. She didn’t. _Well, I told myself I wasn’t going to make any advances until she was ready. If she ever even decides to be ready._

Finally, she turned to face him. A little too close. Her eyes were an annoying shade of blue and they shone like the sky and diamonds and the ocean and they were definitely not pretty. She took a deep breath. “Sadist. I want to do it with you.”

There it was. He couldn’t say he was surprised, considering the fact that it was now night and she was still in his room. “Now?” He raised his eyebrows. “Won’t Danna wonder where the hell you are?” Apparently, Kagura had already thought of this. “I told him I was spending the night with Soyo-chan.” _Damn. She planned this. She wanted this._

It felt surreal to have a conversation with her where they didn’t hurl insults every few seconds. Sougo had to ask: “You remember what I said about waiting and thinking-“

She cut him off. “What do you think I did for the last four months? I even talked to Anego about it!” He flinched, imagining all the different ways the female gorilla could kill him with that dark matter of hers. China noticed his discomfort. “It’s not like she made a big deal out of it. You know, I’m not a little kid anymore. I can make my own decisions. She told me that creeps will be creeps, regardless of age, and that dating a guy my age isn’t going to automatically be better than an older guy. She told me that if we really trusted and...loved each other, than there was nothing to worry about.” Kagura felt a little embarrassed at the mushy talk. “And she told me about all the different ways to hurt you if you tried anything I didn’t like! And to, like, use protection and stuff, and...” She trailed off, realizing she was overtalking.

Silence filled the room. Out of nowhere, Sougo spoke. “You have a stupid face.” Kagura jumped at him. “You insensitive asshole! A fair maiden bares her heart to you, and this is how you respond?!” This is what felt natural: fighting and insults. She was on top of him, and Okita let himself feel the feelings that he had suppressed in times past. He put his hands on her waist and they kissed, not like the timid first kiss they shared, but real and deep and hungry. The body that he had avoided really looking at for so long was suddenly centimeters away from him, on his lap. He moved his hands up under her dress, felt her skin, smooth, undid her bra and a soft sigh escaped her as he toyed with her breasts and that sigh was for _him,_ he took the dress off her body and she reached for his shirt, following his lead, and it was like they knew exactly how to hold each other, it was like every fight, every time they had ever touched each other was all for this moment and it felt heated and competitive, but collaborative and loving, and he was on top of her now, using his mouth, her heartbeat so close to his face, breathing heavy, he wanted it so much. He came up for air and found her panties on the floor and she grabbed his hand, shoved it in between her legs and it was warm and wet and tender, her body pulsing around his fingers was euphoric but it was soon not enough, he took his pants off and he was so so glad he had those condoms in his room because then he was inside of her he was inside _China_ and he moved slowly, with a gentle touch that contradicted his trademark sadism, hands caressing her hips. He knew it was her first time, and she seemed uncharacteristically vulnerable underneath him, naked, at his mercy. But they soon settled into a mutual rhythm, gaining intensity in an intoxicating crescendo of desire, as they both craved more and more. Sougo had almost forgotten how extreme Kagura’s natural strength was, but he quickly remembered as she violently thrusted her body against his, dug her fingernails into his skin, fucked with as much vigor as she fought with, treading the fine line between pleasure and pain and he was no masochist but he wanted her to do _everything_ to him. It felt so good too good why did it feel so much better to do it with someone you loved?

He looked at her face and her body and his memories and he tried to figure out how the girl who was supposed to be stupid and tiny and ugly and flat ended up being so powerful and pale and soft and beautiful. He had spent so much time trying to hurt her, annoy her, but in this moment, he relished the fact that she wanted him, needed him, and he gave her all those things she desired. He loved knowing that he was the one who made her feel this way. He was the cause of those movements, those facial expressions, those sounds- _Oh_ _shit. Sounds._

Sougo was an idiot. He was so wrapped up in the moment that he forgot that there were other rooms next to his, where people could potentially hear them. _Ok, ok, let’s think this through._ The rooms closest to his belonged to Hijikata and Kondo, with Yamazaki’s room a little farther down the hall. _Yamazaki’s out of the question because not only is his room pretty far away, but he always listens to some weird anpan ASMR to help him sleep, so there’s no way he could’ve heard us. Kondo is usually out stalking at night, and even when he is here, he sleeps like a brick. Hijikata... is he a light or heavy sleeper?_ Sougo was too preoccupied to remember. “Oi, Sadist, why do ya look distracted?” Kagura looked slightly suspicious as she mumbled. Okita knew that if he told her he was thinking about Hijikata, she’d get the wrong idea, so he pushed her over to regain  his position on top, leaning over her, and gave her a glare that would terrify any other girl- but only made her smirk a little. He leaned close and whispered, “we can’t make too much noise. i don’t want anyone to wake up.” China’s eyes widened as she remembered that there were rooms with men in them, all throughout them building. Sougo felt a weird urge to comfort her. “If anyone heard us, they probably would’ve said something by now. We’re fine.” She let out some sort of soft sound, and a while later they finished, drifting off to sleep, limbs tangled around each other.

The next morning, Kagura woke him up by squeezing her legs around his waist, nearly shattering his pelvis. “Are you awake?” She whispered. She got a growl of “What the hell is wrong with you” in response. The girl was a little smug, and asked “Oh, are you sore from last night?” Of course he was.“You know I’m not a Yato freak who heals overnight like you.”But Sougo was a bit glad that he was able to do things to her without worrying about her hurting the next day.He sat up, held her, looked into her eyes. The events of last night ran in circles through his mind. _I just- we just-_ He couldn’t even form words; he was so lost in his thoughts. He loved her, he wanted to make sure she knew that, but he still couldn’t say it out loud. The two of them somehow managed to communicate without words, he had no idea how, but everything about him sent out some silent whisper of _i love you_ and everything about her responded the same.

They got dressed in the strange yet comfortable silence and kissed again and went their separate ways, Kagura to her place at Odd Jobs, Sougo to the main headquarters.

It felt like he had a sign pasted to his face that told everyone what he did. He knew that no one knew, but he couldn’t help but feel a little paranoid. Was it just him, or was Hijibaka acting a little weirder than usual around him? No, he couldn’t have heard them.


	4. Chapter 4

Hijikata heard them. Obviously. The walls were paper-thin and his ears were sharp and he wasn’t even asleep yet when they started. Poor, sweet Toshi, who laid in his bed, hoping for visions of mayonnaise to dance through his head, had to be subject to the background noise of those idiot kids fucking. _Why couldn’t they get a room? Well, I guess they technically have a room, but... Why here?_ Sougo was blatantly breaking at least four different articles of the Shinsengumi code. All Hijikata needed to do was to knock on that door and let him know that it was seppuku time. But he couldn’t. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to. He was too tired to get out of bed. It was too awkward. Judging from their whispered conversation, they hadn’t told anyone about their relationship yet, and Hijikata didn’t want to get involved in any sort of pointless drama. Maybe he would’ve acknowledged it if it was someone else, but it was _Sougo_ and it was the Odd Jobs’ daughter and there was no way in hell that Hijikata was going to involve himself with this.

Weird as it was, part of him felt kind of happy for Okita. Sure, they were always at each other’s throats, but at the end of the day he was like a kid brother to him. And Hijikata remembered what had happened when Sougo was sixteen. He never directly talked to him about those things, but Kondo did, and he would tell Hijikata. When Okita first started seeing that girl, the gorilla was like a proud father. He took Sougo aside and gave him some sappy speech and way too many condoms so he wouldn’t make any stupid mistakes. And then, Kondo was the one to talk to him when they ended things. The younger Okita didn’t want to open up, but the gorilla always had a way with him, and the teen eventually spoke of his insecurities. How there was no point in finding love, how there couldn’t be a girl he saw eye-to-eye with, how it wasn’t responsible as a Shinsengumi member, how he didn’t want to hurt someone the way Hijikata hurt his sister.

Hijikata hated himself when Kondo reluctantly informed him of this last detail. When he turned down Mitsuba, he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought that she’d forget about him, that he’d be able to shoulder all the pain by himself. He was young and stupid. He ended up hurting her, and knowing that she was hurt just made him feel even worse and he couldn’t even do anything but walk away and never look back. But Sougo came with them while his sister stayed behind. He was a constant reminder of the heart Hijikata had broken. The kid was so young; he couldn’t understand the nuances of Hijikata’s desicion. Even though what he did was wrong, he was _trying_ to do what was right, but Sougo didn’t see that. All he saw was a man who hurt his beloved sister and made it so that she was far away from him. And Hijikata hated that; he hated how he ended up spreading pain everywhere, he hated how he wasn’t able to protect a thing.

He hated that his actions could have left a scar painful enough for that idiot sadist to never be able to experience love.

So that’s why Hijikata felt a semblance of happiness for Sougo, as he overheard his hushed conversation with the Yato girl. He was relieved that Okita was able to find love, despite all the shit he had to deal with. He admired his resolve, his decision to stay by the side of the girl he loved.

But those warm feelings were soon forgotten when the violent duo started to go in on each other, and why did they have to be right next to him when he was just trying to sleep? Why did he have to get an earful of the sounds of body on body and the moaning and the mouth noises- _those fucking idiots... quite literally._ Hijikata did his best to ignore them and made a mental note to buy earplugs.

And it was a smart move to buy earplugs because they did it again. They knew that it wasn’t the best location, but they needed to satisfy their urges, and it was the most convenient place they could think of. Then it was the third time, then the fourth...


	5. Chapter 5

At this point, they had already decided that they wanted to be together, be girlfriend and boyfriend and all that, but they were a bit hesitant to tell people. It felt weird after all this time of fighting and hating each other to suddenly say, “yeah, we’re dating now.”

“We can’t keep this a secret forever.” A few days after their most recent night-meeting, Kagura and Sougo were at a sweets shop (her choice, as she won the fight they had earlier) and she spoke in between large mouthfuls of cake. “I know,” he responded. “Let’s just give it a week. If we don’t get a chance to bring it up naturally in a conversation, then we’ll go out of our way to tell people.” Kagura carefully considered this idea, and agreed. “Anyways, I’m gonna get another-“ Okita cut her off. “You are _not_ getting another slice of cake, for fuck’s sake. You know I have to pay for all of this?” “I hardly even had any!” She protested, as if there wasn’t a large stack of empty plates next to her. But she knew her argument was in vain, and they both began to smile. “Alright, I have to get back to work,” Sougo spoke as he got up from the table, “But I’m off-duty tomorrow, so we can spend more time together if you’re free.” Kagura put on a haughty expression. “I suppose I may be able to spare some of my precious time. I’m a very busy lady, you know.” Sougo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later.” “See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!” She called after him.

The next day, the Odd Jobs trio were lounging around their home, waiting for a job request to come in. Kagura was just thinking about going out when she heard a knock at the door. Shinpachi got up to answer it. “Good morning, Okita-san. What brings you here?” Kagura sat bolt upright. _What_ was _he doing here?_ It was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. The sadistic police officer entered the room, dressed in plainclothes, as it was his day off. “They wanted me to update you guys on that missing persons case you helped us with the other day. Turns out that the ‘customer’ who asked you for help was a fraud, but we ended up solving the case. Everyone involved is safe now.” “Well, all’s well that ends well,” Shinpachi said. “Thanks for letting us know.” Gintoki nodded in agreement. “Hey, since you came all the way here, do wanna have some tea or something?” Sougo accepted Gin’s offer, and the glasses scurried off to prepare refreshments.

“Why is Glasses the only one who does housework around here?” Sougo asked. “Are you lazy bums holding him hostage or something?” Gintoki chuckled. “Nah, he just has the personality of a housewife. And I’m not lazy, for your information; I work my ass off running this business.” Kagura piped up, not wanting to seem like the weakest link. “I work my ass off all the time, too!” Okita flashed her a wicked smirk. “You definitely worked your ass off the other night.”

Less than a second after the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake.  
 _Wait._  
 _No._  
 _No no no no why did I say that out loud, in front of him..._  
At this point, Sougo was in panic mode. _I’ll just pass it off as a joke, that should work, right?_  
“ _It was a joke!_ ” His voice was forced and unnaturally loud. He began to laugh hysterically. China somehow understood his frantic thinking and she joined in, the two of them cackling like Sakamoto Tastuma. “ _AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!_ ”  
 _He’d buy it, right?_ The number of brain cells shared between Sougo and Kagura seemed to be in the single digits now. Gintoki was taken aback by their crazed laughter, but Sougo’s suggestive comment was still firmly rooted in his mind. His eyes, that usually resembled those of a dead fish, were now glowing with murderous intent. He stood and made his way towards Okita.

 _“What the hell did you do to my daughter?”_  
The laughing stopped.  
Danna’s voice was low and even, somehow even more intimidating than if he yelled. He grabbed the front of the younger man’s yukata, pulling him up to his feet. Sougo couldn’t speak. What was he supposed to say? That he did ***** and ******** and even ******* the **** with China? There was no way he could say that to the boss’ face. This was one of the few people that he respected, even feared. He did want to start telling people about his and China’s relationship, he even wanted Danna to be the first to know, but not like _this._ And... he just referred to her as his _daughter._ Everyone knew Gintoki’s relationship with Kagura was somewhere between father-daughter and brother-sister, but he usually called her a brat or a freeloader or an employee. Danna was worried about her, wanted to protect her. _Well, I guess this is how I die._

“Gin-chan.”  
Kagura stood next to Sougo, speaking softly, but with confidence. “It’s okay. You know I’m not a kid anymore. We started dating a few weeks ago. We were just waiting for a good time to tell you and everyone.” Gintoki couldn’t help but be reminded of the girl’s first “boyfriend” around two years ago. He remembered how much he wanted Kagura to hold on to her childhood, and he realized how much she had grown since then. Sougo finally spoke up. “It’s not like we...did it on a whim. I hope you know that I would never take advantage of Kagura. I know our relationship has a different dynamic than most, but... I love her.”

He blushed slightly as he said those words for the first time. Kagura’s face also turned red as she placed her hand on Sougo’s arm. “He’s a big idiot, but I love him too.”

Gintoki looked at the the two of them. Everything from their words to their body language to their faces conveyed the connection between them and the trust they shared. He felt a small swell of pride as he took in the fact that Kagura had grown up. Still, he shot another glare at Sougo. “If you break her heart, I’ll kill you.”

At this moment, Shinpachi entered the room with a tray of snacks. “What did I miss?” He asked. Gintoki turned to face him. “Pattsuan, the destructive duo are apparently dating now. It seems like the world may end soon.” The glasses paused for a second to process this. “Well, I guess I’m not surprised. They always seemed to have a special sort of bond.” Shinpachi nodded towards the couple. “Congratulations.” Then it was his turn to threaten Sougo. “But if you hurt her...” his lenses flashed menacingly.

_If you hurt her, I’ll kill you._  
It seemed like everyone who became informed of Sougo’s relationship with China had the same warning for him. He was glad that she had so many people looking out for her, but he couldn’t help but think... _Are we talking about the same girl? If I ever did anything to China that she didn’t want,_ she’d _be the one to kill me._ He didn’t like to admit it, but China was a bit more powerful than him in terms of physical strength. They were perfectly matched back when she was fourteen, but now that she had grown up, her Yato strength had nearly reached its peak. The only reason he was still able to keep up with her in a fight was because of his technique and hundreds of hours of training. But that didn’t really matter because Sougo wasn’t planning on doing any harm to China. Sure, he would tease her, annoy her, and fight her. But underneath all that, he deeply cared for her. They would battle each other to their heart’s content, but they would protect each other just as fiercely.

Kagura and Sougo spent more time together after their relationship became “official”. To an outsider, it didn’t look like many things had changed, other than the fact that they were together more often. But to the Yato and the sadist, everything seemed just a little different. Their fights were more heated and fulfilling now that the tension between them had broken. Their words felt more honest. They knew what the other was thinking, even if what they said was the complete opposite. And of course, one of the biggest changes was the physical intimacies they shared. They weren’t the type for public displays of affection, but they had a habit of linking their pinky fingers together when they were next to each other. The gesture almost seemed to reflect the nature of their relationship:subtle, yet firmly connected, entangled with each other.

Their fingers were linked in this manner as they walked towards the field dotted with sakura trees. It had now been a number of months since they had started dating, and exactly a year since their first kiss. They felt no need to discuss the anniversary; it was one of those wordless understandings that passed so easily between them. The couple reached the very same spot underneath the very same tree. It was a lazy springtime afternoon, aglow with light sunshine. China turned to face him with a small, soft smile. “I hate you.”  
Sougo grabbed her by the chin, tilted her head upwards. “I hate you, too.”

His lips met hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Criticism is always welcome if you notice something I could improve on~


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